This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Q&A: Donna Harrow discusses the ‘crisis in the black community’

The director of the African Canadian Coalition of Community Organizations spoke to the Star on Wednesday about the gun violence that has already claimed the lives of three black youths this year in the GTA.

Q: What went through your mind when you heard about the death of St. Aubyn Rodney, who was shot in the Jane-Finch area on Monday?

A: Every single one of those deaths, no matter whether it was accidental or purposely done, stabs me in the heart. It’s bad enough that we have lost another young man, but you think of the shooter. You think: That life is also lost.

Article Continued Below

Q: So why does this keep happening?

A: I truly believe that our systems are failing. We really need to look at racist practices within our country. There are two different sets of rules. We don’t build into our systems equity for all young people.

A: The frustrations of being excluded. The anger of being labelled and called “bad” from when you’re 10 years old. The wanting to be recognized and, “If you’re not going to recognize me, I’m going to do other things to recognize myself as a strong person.”

Q: What’s the biggest misconception about these shootings?

A: That it’s all about gangs. But it’s deeper than that. Where are these young people getting the guns from? Why do young people seek to go into situations where they’re called gangs? It’s because they’re excluded in other places, so they find solace in being together.

Q: What is the first step toward stopping the killings?

Article Continued Below

A: The organizations that are there, who can do the work, the immediate work in terms of healing, in terms of prevention, are not properly funded by the government. That needs to be looked at right away. We also need to look at alternative-type [education] programs that will help the success of young people.

My children grew up with the adage: When you run out of brains, you use your fist. So they always knew that they had to use their brains to be successful, because using their fist wasn’t an option. There are more young people who have to learn that.

A: We as a society and politicians are used to playing a certain game. It’s about putting funding out. It’s about saying, “We as a government are seen to be responsible. If we give to mainstream organizations who know nothing about raising African Canadian children, and we provide some programs to the African Canadian community, then it’s fine, we’ve done our jobs.”

I do a lot of equity work around the city, and it goes without saying now that black people are not properly represented in all strata — if we talk about teachers, if we talk about politicians. It’s not that they’re complacent and they’re lazy and they don’t want to do those things, it’s because the system is set up to keep certain people at certain places.

Q: How close to home have the shootings hit for you?

A: I work in the Alexandra Park community, and we’ve had many deaths of young people. The last one was “Q” [Qoheleth] Chong. He was a young man who wasn’t the best student, and he found trouble.

When he got out of jail the last time, he said, “I’m not going back there.” He started to work at a community centre that provides programming for young people who have been incarcerated. And he went up to College St. and Lippincott St. one [Saturday] night, and he was shot.

He had come to see me on the Thursday, and he was laughing and dancing because he was bringing his application to go into the apprenticeship program for carpentry. He said to me, “I have to turn around.” I didn’t understand what he meant until I was at the hospital, and his girlfriend said, “I’m pregnant and he will never see his baby.”

Q: What kind of person was he?

A: He was someone who was a strong leader. He had a killer smile. He just had this real amazing personality.

Some of the kids that you see that die, that get caught up in the system, are black kids with that kind of personality, [but] not a lot of outlets for that personality. We all sort of push them aside as troubled kids.

More from The Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com